50 Cent Taking Creditors to Court: 'Creditors Are Making Him a Slave'
The rapper, 50 Cent, or also known as, Curtis Jackson, is in the hole deep. Back in 2015, Jackson went to court with his creditors to resolve his debt issues which totaled over 23 million dollars. Through the court proceedings, the parties agreed that he would pay it off within a five-year period. And that seemingly was the end of that, until now. Fifty now owes more than 30 million dollars and is claiming that the creditor's repayment terms are akin to enslaving the rapper.
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Curtis Jackson Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy to Pay Back Debt of $30 Million
The initial debt that he went to court to settle involved an audio company, Sleek Audio, and Lastonia Leviston, someone who had a daughter with 50's rival, Rick Ross. Confusing, I know. Nonetheless, Jackson owed Sleep Audio $17 million and Leviston, $6 million. At the time, all parties agreed on the repayment terms with the rapper's lawyer issuing a statement.
"Mr. Jackson is pleased that the Bankruptcy Court approved his plan of reorganization today, less than one year after filing for chapter 11 to reorganize his financial affairs,” the rapper’s lawyer said.
“Mr. Jackson’s plan of reorganization received overwhelming support from his creditors and was confirmed without objection. The consensual plan resolves all of his creditors’ claims and was the product of Mr. Jackson’s good faith negotiations with his creditors and their confidence in his future prospects."
Fifty Claims the Repayment Terms Are Akin to Involuntary Servitude
Well, despite the agreement and the addition of another 6 million dollars owed to Suntrust Bank, Jackson has come out and said that the creditors are turning him into a slave. "The plan conditions [50's] access to food and shelter on the whims of the trustee, who answers only to the [creditors]."
To the rapper, the payback plan results in 'compulsive labor' which he states is unconstitutional. Speaking of the constitution, Jackson is referring to the 13th Amendment which bans slavery and involuntary servitude. The plan to pay back the creditors he says creates 'a near-indefinite period of involuntary indentured servitude', hence the slavery analogy. Jackson says that he would have to be working solely for the creditors' benefit.
How Did Jackson Get into This Mess to Begin With?
But how did 50 Cent get into this mess in the first place? Before he filed for bankruptcy, the 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' artists owed 36 million dollars, but only had $20 million in assets. Well, through a payment of $8 million from his own money and another $13.65 million from a legal malpractice lawsuit he won, he took down the debt he owed. This wasn't the end of the tunnel for the rapper, though. That same year, in 2015, Leviston, who has a child with Rick Ross, claimed that 50 Cent released a sex tape of her to the internet without her permission and won a judgment of $7 million, an amount that Jackson didn't have.
Jackson Seen Posing in Front of Refrigerator Full of Cash, Judge Questions Asset Declaration
The lawsuit with Leviston prompted the rapper to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy to cover the costs to pay the plaintiff, as well as, help burden the rest of the debt he owed to Sleek Audio and Suntrust Bank. It now seems, though, that his repayment terms are preventing him from living the extravagant life as he claims that he's being enslaved. In 2016, he was pictured in front of a refrigerator full of cash and was accused by the judge of not declaring all of his assets. So, to be honest, who knows how much he really has or if the repayment terms are too steep. Time will only tell.
